The invention relates to devices intended for soap bubble blowing for entertainment and show purposes.
A soap bubble may be described as a volume of gas contained within a spherical thin liquid film. Bubble-making toys and devices are widely used, being popular with children. The common principle of these devices or toys is that an outlet, such as a ring capping a stick, or a tube's end mouth, is wetted with a soap bubble generation agent. When the outlet is so wetted with the agent, a film is generated due to surface tension across the outlet, which film bends under gas pressure from one side of the outlet and generates soap bubbles splitting from the said outlet and flying away in the air.
To make larger-size soap bubbles, devices in the form of a frame (a ring with a holder) of a large diameter, or a tube are used. The use of a tube offers a smaller size and the easiest application of the device. To enhance the efficiency of bubble blowing, a tube is used with holes for additional inflow of air used in the soap bubble making. Examples of devices intended to make larger-size bubbles and based on soap bubble blowing with a tube are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,205,028, 2,561,974, 2,711,051, 3,183,621, and 4,770,649, and in Russian Patents Nos. 2139119 and 2193437.
Soap bubbles are produced from special compositions. A typical composition for making toy bubbles contains water and a Surface Active Agent (SAA) dissolved therein. SAA reduces the surface tension of water so that when a ring or a tube is dipped into such composition, a composition film is generated across the outlet, bends under a gas flow from one side, and generates soap bubbles. Apart from SAA, a soap bubble blowing agent generally contains high-molecular substances and other additives. The composition is developed with regard to design features of the device used to produce soap bubbles and with regard to the soap bubble size and its lifetime to destruction. Examples of compositions for soap bubble blowing are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,433,625, 2,469,045, 3,630,951, 4,284,534, 4,511,497, 6,008,172, and 6,056,983, Application No. 20020019470, and in UK Patent No. 2086407.
Reviewed below are several analogous devices intended to produce large-size soap bubbles.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,205,028 describes a tapered cardboard tube, on one side of which a mouthpiece for air forcing is fixed, while on the other side, the tube is wetted with soap bubble blowing composition. The mouthpiece is fixed along the tube's axis and spaced from one of its ends, so that fully opened apertures are left between the mouthpiece and the tube. When air is forced through the mouthpiece, an additional volume of atmospheric air is sucked into the tube (via the fully opened apertures), which is supplied for generation of soap bubbles on the opposite end of the tube. For better wetting of the tube outlet with the composition, a ring with slits is arranged inside the tube. The inner and the outer surface of the tube may be smooth or porous.
Disadvantages of such tube are its fully open apertures and its even (smooth) surface. The fully open apertures and smooth surface of the tube result in the composition flowing down the tube when a soap bubble is blown, especially when the tube is pointed upwards or horizontally. The composition flows down the tube wall and through its open apertures, and finally contacts the blower's hands and face. In addition, when catching breath (between expirations), the soap bubble film contracts and partly pushes warm and moist air out to the blower's face, which feels unpleasant.
The closest analog of the claimed device may be considered the soap bubble blowing device using air inflow to generate a soap bubble, which is described in the patent RU2139119 of Mar. 25, 1997. The device comprises a tube, with a nipple of a smaller diameter and apertures for atmospheric air inflow installed in its top part, while soap bubbles are generated on the bottom end. For easier use of the device, the tube may be combined with a lid and a container for soap bubble blowing composition, may have an adjustment ring to adjust the quantity of air supplied to generate a soap bubble, and may also be supplemented with a device for automatic soap bubble blowing. When the device is in use, a jet of air or gas is supplied via a nipple inside the tube. Using the underpressure created in the top part of the tube, an additional volume of atmospheric air is forced into the device to generate a soap bubble. Due to this effect, the device enables blowing of larger-size soap bubbles, or a multitude of medium-size bubbles.
A disadvantage of the above device is that the tube surface is made even (smooth), which reduces the efficiency of blowing large-size soap bubbles upwards.
Information on soap bubble blowing compositions refers to a previously known soap bubble blowing composition that is not toxic and does not irritate human eyes, and uses water solutions of SAAs and high-molecular substances, see UK Patent GB 2 086 407. This composition is a water solution of lauryl diethanol amide combined with the alcanol amide of sulfo-succinic acid ester, which is used as SAA, and contains also water-soluble, film-generating high-molecular compounds selected from the polyvinyl pyrrolidone-polyethylene oxide-polyvinyl alcohol group, and from derivatives of cellulose and gelatin. Apart from the above-listed components, the composition contains up to 10% of glycerin by weight.
This composition does not enable blowing large soap bubbles as it generates a thin soap bubble film, which is needed to produce a small bubble, but bursts at an attempt to produce a large soap bubble. Such composition is intended to obtain a higher number of small-size soap bubbles, i.e. its feature is blowing a multitude of small bubbles, rather than larger ones.
U.S. Application No. 20020019470 is known, which offers a feature of soap bubble generation from a solution of micelle-generating SAA combined with high-molecular substances and salts. The main feature of the composition is its side effect, i.e. generation of composition droplets and film particles after the bubble burst. The composition contains a high fraction of SAA and high-molecular substances, generally over 20% by weight, and is very viscous. Bubble blowing through a tube generates a film that is white or colored with specially added colorants.
This composition has a disadvantage of inability to blow large-size bubbles due to insufficient strength of film. Another disadvantage is that large amounts of droplets and film particles are produced when the bubble bursts. Such film particles and droplets may cause throat irritation if the bubble is blown and burst in close vicinity of the face.
The film-generating composition for making larger-size (approximately, 40 cm in diameter) soap bubbles may be considered as the closest analog of the claimed composition described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,951, where fluoroaliphatic compounds are used as SAA.
Compositions based on fluoroaliphatic SAAs as per U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,951 efficiently reduce the surface tension and enable making soap bubbles with a thick elastic film. Fluoroaliphatic SAAs are used as a solution containing 0.5-5% by weight of fluoric SAA. Several polymeric compounds are used as additives to this composition, such as polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl alcohol, polyglycols, etc. The solvent of the composition is water, with addition of 15-40% by weight of glycerin.
Among the disadvantages of the composition is its high viscosity, which dictates slow and careful blowing of a bubble, as the film is not stable enough in the initial period of blowing, and often bursts. This is especially manifest when soap bubbles are produced with the aid of the soap bubble blowing device as described in this application, which uses the principle of forcing an additional volume of air for soap bubble generation. With a glycerin content exceeding 40%, the composition looses its film-generating properties and separates, thus making bubble blowing impossible. The composition makes bubbles with a very thick film, and such bubbles are heavy. Besides, the soap bubble film obtained with this composition is not sufficiently colorful, and the bubbles when bursting produce solution drops that irritate eyes and cause a throat tickle.